If Rapture Index is High, End of the World is At Hand

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If Rapture Index is High, End of the World is At Hand

Would you like to know how fast the world is going to Hell in a handbasket? You won't find out from traditional news sources, which think that providing the latest figures for unemployment, crime, inflation, and interest are enough to accurately gauge the health of a nation. For that, you need to have hard data about False Christs, recent sightings of the Mark of the Beast, and worldwide apostasy activity. That's where the Rapture Index Web site comes in.

The Rapture Index attempts to quantify the likelihood that the Rapture is about to take place, based on the observations of index creator Todd Strandberg, a 31-year-old Air Force sergeant stationed at Offutt Air Force base near Omaha, Nebraska. In addition, the site "promotes the teachings of the pre-Tribulation Rapture and the soon return of Jesus Christ," Strandberg says.

According to some scholars' interpretations of the Bible, a series of earth-shaking events will follow what is called the "Rapture," in which people who've been saved by Jesus Christ will ascend into Heaven before many horrible things start to happen on Earth. The unsaved masses will be left behind to gnash their teeth, until they're eventually cast into Hell for all eternity.

"The Rapture itself will occur at an unknown time," says Strandberg, who scours newspapers and other media sources for buried tidbits to compile his frequently updated index. "However, because the Bible predicts that a number of events will quickly follow the Rapture, we will likely have a good general idea of when the Rapture will be occurring. I look for the index to be in the 150s." On December 9, the Rapture Index was teetering at a terrifying/encouraging (take your pick) 146.

Strandberg, who has been studying Bible prophesy since age 15, provides a "Liberal Media Watch Report," "Prophetic Top Ten news items," and a "Post Rapture Survival Guide - What to do If You Miss the Rapture." His colorful writing and knack for attention-grabbing gimmickry transform Eschatology - a branch of theology dealing with the events leading up to the end of life on Earth - into a form of entertainment. But Strandberg is no fan of the big media from which he occasionally borrows audience-building tactics. In fact, he thinks people in the "liberal media" are minions of Satan himself. "I wouldn't desire to work in any office right below one of the media news headquarters," Strandberg states in his FAQ, "because if they were ever sent straight back to the place from which they slithered out of, they'd have to come crashing through the ceiling to get there."

Because of the Rapture Index's often-humorous approach to cataclysmic events, it's difficult to tell if Strandberg actually believes what he writes. He insists that he's "very serious," however. "I think the Rapture will be one of the most earth-shaking events that will ever take place. I'm expecting every T1 server that hosts a prophecy Web site to be suffering a near breakdown from all the hits they will be receiving the day after."

Strandberg also doesn't give a tinker's dam when the Eschaton is immanenitized, or who will be to blame. As he sees it, our planet functions solely as "eternity's airport terminal. Life on Earth serves a purpose, but only in getting us to our final destination."